


a penny lost is a penny found

by missmichellebelle



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Awkwardness, Coincidences, Disney, Disney World & Disneyland, Fate, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Social Anxiety, mentioned Mila/Sara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 07:38:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12502244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmichellebelle/pseuds/missmichellebelle
Summary: Yuuri wonders what he must have done that, of all the strangers in all the world, the one walking towards them has to be the beautiful mystery man from their Splash Mountain photo.





	a penny lost is a penny found

**Author's Note:**

> there is this weird phenomenon that sometimes happens at Disneyland, where you keep seeing the same strangers over and over and over again. most of the time, you don't say anything.
> 
> but on some occasions, you do.
> 
> (this is absolutely riddled with miniscule details that mostly stand out if you've been to Disneyland in the last two months, or if you go frequently. but it's still a fun ride, even if neither of those things are true. :3)

If it wasn’t for Phichit’s PhotopPass, maybe it never would’ve happened.

“Got it!” Phichit declares, holding his fist up in the air for emphasis as his eyes stay locked on his phone. It hasn’t even been fifteen minutes, evident by the way that Yuuri is still ringing Disneyland water from his hair and clothes, but that is the blessing of technology. “None of you went with my theme!”

Phichit’s “theme” had been _Malibu housewife_.

“It didn’t make any sense,” Guang-Hong eases.

“How did you manage to keep your sunglasses on without holding them?” Leo asks in surprise, leaning over Phichit’s phone—and the picture—with curiosity.

“Are you holding a _martini glass_?” Yuuko asks incredulously, pulling the phone out of Phichit’s hand to get a closer look. “Where did you even _get_ that?”

Phichit only grins, making a victory _v_ with his fingers.

“A magician never reveals his secrets.”

Yuuri is genuinely curious, but he refrains from peeking over Yuuko’s shoulder. He hates the way he looks in ride photos.

“Oh my god,” Yuuko says suddenly, bringing Phichit’s phone even closer to her face.

“Yuuri’s face? I know. I’m an artist, but who looks that happy going straight down a waterfall?” Phichit tsks, shaking his head, as if having fun on Splash Mountain is suddenly a _crime_. It’s a ride, after all, and rides are _supposed_ to be fun. Besides, the drop—and getting wet—is the best part.

Even if the aftermath of walking around a crowded theme park in clothes ranging from damp to horrendously soaked isn’t quite as enjoyable.

So maybe Yuuri should say that if it wasn’t for the sudden heatwave at the end of October, the thing that had made Splash Mountain sound like such a good idea, that none of this would have happened.

“What? Oh, no, I mean, Yuuri looks adorable, he always does in ride photos.”

Yuuri rolls his eyes. He does _not_.

“No, I’m talking about the other guy in the photo.”

Wait, what? What other guy in the photo?

“Oh, you mean the single rider that sat in the very back.” Phichit siddles up to Yuuko’s side, gazing at the phone. “He clearly got the memo on my theme. He almost looks as good as I do.”

“Wow,” Guang-Hong says as he crowds closer. “He looks like a model.”

“Definitely not following your theme, though,” Leo tacks on, adding to the huddle. “If anyone in the picture matches, it’s him and Yuuri. I’d say it’s a _I have a deathwish and think plunging down a waterfall is fun_ kind of theme.”

“It _is_ fun,” Yuuri defends before his curiosity gets the better of him and he’s trying to look at the picture, too. His eyes immediately find his own face— _ugh_ , he looks _awful_. His smile is so wide it makes his cheeks look even fatter than they normally are. Combined, they take up nearly his entire face. His eyes are small enough as it is, do they really need to disappear entirely into his cheek fat?

Whatever. It’s over. It’s done. He’ll just cover his face with his hands when they go on Space Mountain, and then he won’t have to worry about it.

His eyes travel over Phichit’s perfectly on-theme Malibu housewife, to Yuuko’s eyes slammed shut, to Leo and Guang-Hong’s screaming faces. Him aside, it’s a great picture that he’s sure will grace not only their kitchen fridge but also Phichit’s instagram.

But then his eyes find the last face, and his heart feels like it temporarily evacuates his body.

“Definitely a model,” he finds himself saying, agreeing with Guang-Hong in a hushed, breathy whisper.

“Another one of your own kind, Yuuri,” Yuuko teases, nudging him in the side. “Someone else who no doubt looks good in any picture taken of him, no matter how horrible the situation or how candid.” She sighs, wistfully. “So lucky.”

Yuuri’s not paying enough attention to refute Yuuko’s claims about him being photogenic, eyes still locked on the stranger that was apparently sitting just four seats behind him in a log-shaped boat. The guy is _literally_ drop dead gorgeous. Like, if Yuuri ever saw him in person again, he’s practically certain that his heart would just give out and he would collapse right next to a churro cart or something. His Splash Mountain action shot looks like it could’ve been pulled out of a magazine spread, for God’s sake. The way his silver hair is flipped, the way his arms extend upwards, the perfect heart-shape of his smile, the slight peak of blue eyes through long, pale eyelashes—

“Yuuri.” Phichit sounds like he’s about to start laughing. “Can I have my phone back?”

It takes a moment for Yuuri to realize he’s even _holding_ Phichit’s phone, and a moment longer to realize he’s the only one still staring at the picture. Embarrassment raises, fast and hot, to his cheeks.

“I promise I’ll send you a copy.” Phichit gives him a conspiratorial wink that only makes the shame in Yuuri’s face burn brighter, and he hands the phone back with limp fingers.

“He is pretty dreamy,” Yuuko says to him, as if that somehow makes it better that Yuuri was lowkey ogling someone he’s never even _met_. That’s not something he generally does.

 _Generally_.

He rubs his hands over his face and shakes his head.

“Can we go on Pirates now?” He asks through his palms, and Phichit makes quick work of flicking through the tabs on the app to get to wait times. Just like that, the picture—and the mysterious stranger—are gone.

“Fifteen minutes,” Phichit informs them as they alter course. “Optimal.”

*

Or maybe it happens because Leo makes them take an unfortunate churro pitstop in Frontierland.

“I’ve been reading online about these,” he tells them all as they wait in line. “Sour watermelon churros.”

Yuuri instinctively wrinkles his nose.

“That sounds…” Yuuko starts, glancing around at the others, unsure of how to finish.

“Interesting?” Guang-Hong supplies, helpfully.

“Disgusting,” Phichit clarifies, saying the one thing they’re all thinking, and Leo just laughs.

“I know, right? Apparently they’re not as bad as they sound, though, and they only have them for another week or something.” He nudges Guang-Hong with his elbow. “Split it with me?”

“Well…” He bites his lip, unsure. “I mean, it can’t be any worse than that weird black ice cream thing that Phichit made us try. With the pop rocks?”

“Spider silk macaroon,” Yuuri supplies helpfully, because he always has a finger on the pulse of Disneyland’s newest (and sometimes _weirdest_ ) foods. “And I didn’t think it was that bad,” he defends. A little too sweet, but the pop rocks made him feel like a kid. A part of him can still feel the tingling in the back of his throat.

“Yeah, we know, you— _oh my god_.” Phichit’s face lights up in a sudden delighted smile, and everyone stares at him in surprise. He’s staring somewhere past them, and Yuuri turns around, wondering if maybe Princess Tiana is taking her afternoon walk from the Mark Twain to New Orleans Square. Phichit does tend to get the most dazzled by character sightings.

The sun catches on a glitter of rose gold and a shine of silver, and Yuuri knows Phichit has sighted _someone_.

“Is that—?” Yuuko starts, looking around at them in surprise, and the feeling echoes in Yuuri’s chest. Disneyland has to host thousands upon thousands of people _every day_. The chances of seeing the same stranger twice has to be pretty low, right?

Yuuri finds himself wishing Seung-Gil was there to do the math, even if he’s not quite sure if it would put him at ease or freak him out more.

“It _is_ ,” Phichit hisses in excitement, and Yuuri wonders what he must have done that, of all the strangers in all the world, the one walking towards them has to be the beautiful mystery man from their Splash Mountain photo.

He’s not alone, either. He’s curving along the cobbled path that hugs the Rivers of America with four others—all of them willowy, graceful, and beautiful, and dressed like they’re attending an expensive Gala rather than walking through a theme park in near-suffocating heat. It makes Yuuri feel like a slob in his Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout shirt, even though most people in the parks are dressed more like him than like them.

Did he miss the memo on Dapper Day again?

“He has the rose gold ears,” Yuuko laments. “Those things are like $80 on ebay right now.”

“Do you think he was lucky or that he actually shelled out for them?”

Yuuri doesn’t care. They look positively stunning on him. It makes him wish that he had the confidence to rock the huge pink bow he always stares at a little too long when they come to the parks.

It’s just as the Splash Mountain mystery man is passing the petrified tree that he looks over in their direction. He’s wearing sunglasses, but Yuuri suddenly has the distinct feeling he’s being looked at.

Yuuri’s heart might not immediately give out, but his knees certainly do. He stumbles backwards, crashing into Leo and making him drop his newly acquired churro.

“Yuuri?” Leo asks, eyebrows raising, and Yuuri looks down at the churro, stark red against the Frontierland dirt, and then back at the group of definitely models. They’ve all stopped walking now.

They’re all staring.

Yuuri wishes he had up and died instead. It would have been far less humiliating.

“Ah—” He looks back at Leo and hurriedly pulls a $20 bill out of his pocket. “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t—buy another, one, I’m—” Yuuri looks back at the group. They’re moving again. _They’re moving towards them_. “I’m sorry, I’m going to—” His words keep getting stuck in the back of his throat and he stumbles backwards. “Thunder Mountain? That sounds great! I’ll go get in line for us.

“Yuuri!” Yuuko calls after him, but he’s already tripping over himself and away, away, _away_ , as quickly as he can without breaking into a full-out run. He’s already drawn enough attention to himself. He doesn’t need a Cast Member calling him out for running, too.

*

Or maybe it was Guang-Hong’s insistence that they get FastPasses for Racers.

“Don’t look now, but I think we’re being followed,” Phichit says in a mock whisper, leaning in close, and then gestures up subtly with his finger. The single-rider line winds up a path just ahead of them, and it doesn’t take long for Yuuri’s eyes to lock onto that telltale silver hair. He’s there, his entire group is there, beating back the 95 minute wait time by splitting up instead.

This is a joke. This is some sort of cruel, twisted, joke.

“It is pretty funny,” Leo agrees, and Yuuri closes his eyes. He hadn’t meant to say that _outloud_.

“And weird,” Guang-Hong adds with a furrowed brow, and this, at least, Yuuri can get on board with. It _is_ weird. It’s incredibly weird. It feels like some kind of work-around punishment. Yuuri’s not quite sure _how_ it’s a punishment, or what it’s for, but things like this always work themselves out for the worst in the end.

“Don’t worry,” Yuuko says, putting her arm around his shoulders briefly and giving him a squeeze. The contact lasts hardly a few seconds—it’s too hot to be that close to another person. “He’s farther up in line than we are. There’s no way he’ll get seated with us _again_.” She gives him a smile, and then turns to the rest of the group. “I’m driving!” She declares, and Yuuri cracks a smile.

She’s right, after all. What are the odds?

(Astounding, it turns out. One might even say they’re profound.)

Phichit drags Yuuri into the second row, and Yuuri feels his stomach drop, knowing that the empty seat is going to be next to him and they’re going to _put_ someone in it, and it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t _make sense_ , there’s no way that—

His entire body tenses as soon as he can feel a presence behind him, and he doesn’t turn around. He _refuses_ to turn around.

But he doesn’t have to. The looks on his friends’ faces—Phichit’s cheshire grin, especially—tell Yuuri _exactly_ who is standing behind him.

 _Please_ , he hopes his eyes convey to all of them. _Please don’t say anything. Please don’t bring it up. Let’s just get on the ride and forget about it._

Their car is pulling up to the gates, the previous riders exciting to the vehicle’s left.

Suddenly, Splash Mountain mystery man snaps his fingers ( _loudly_ ), and Yuuri startles so hard he’s surprised he doesn’t scream. He presses an open palm to his chest, trying not to hyperventilate, and Phichit looks at him in concern, reaching out and giving his forearm a few friendly, comforting rubs.

“That’s it,” says a voice behind him. “I went on Splash Mountain with you.”

There’s no way that a voice he’s never heard before can feel familiar, but it still _does_ , somehow. There’s a lilt to it, a hint of an accent that Yuuri can’t place, and he wonders if he fainted just then if they’ll think it was heatstroke.

“So you did,” Phichit agrees, and then he’s giving Yuuri’s wrist a gentle tug. The gates are open. It’s time to clamber in. Yuuri has to sit in the middle, sandwiched between one of his best friends in the entire world and a stranger who is actively giving him health complications. His dad has issues with his heart—maybe it’s genetic? Can dormant heart problems be brought to the surface but unfairly attractive men? It doesn’t sound all that scientifically sound.

“I liked your Malibu housewife,” the stranger compliments as Yuuri struggles frantically with the reality of his seatbelt. Buckling it in means the possibility of accidentally _touching_ this guy.

“See?! _He_ got the theme.”

Yuuko, Leo, and Guang-Hong all groan from the front row.

“And what’s the theme this time, boss?” Leo jokes. The car has started to move at this point, and Yuuri still hasn’t buckled his seatbelt in. Oh god, they’re going to kick him from the ride. He’s going to be forcibly removed and the last thing mysterious Splash Mountain is going to see is him being dragged off to Disneyland jail.

“Need help?” This time, the voice is lowered, softer, speaking under the chatter of Yuuri’s friends as they throw about ideas for how they should all pose for the photo later in the ride. Yuuri glances up from where he is staring at the seatbelt, forced to face the reality of who the voice belongs to, who he’s sitting next to, and finds a pair of clear blue eyes closer than should be legal. The guy is _right there_.

Yuuri breathes in so quickly he almost chokes on it.

The car is slowing to a stop. The Cast Member is going to ask them to pull on their yellow tabs soon, and pulling on his own would be useless right about now.

“I—”

He _what_? Is so completely lame that even being next to someone he finds attractive has caused him to short circuit completely?

Before he can come up with any kind of excuse, the seatbelt is being gently pulled from his rather loose hold. Those blue eyes hold his as the tab clicks into place. Yuuri is fairly certain that buckling a seatbelt is not supposed to make anyone blush as hard as he is currently blushing.

“Hello Racers! Pull on those yellow tabs for me!” The Cast Member instructs, and Yuuri finally manages to break away from their weird, impromptu staring contest. His face feels so hot (god, how _red_ is he right now?) that he wonders if he actually _is_ suffering from heat stroke. He goes to pull on his yellow tab, and then finds a hand settling over his own. Together, they tug—once, twice—and then Yuuri is pulling his hand back as quickly as he’s physically able. He just resists the urge to sit on his fingers.

It has to be the most uncomfortable ride of the day (and the first thing they road was the _Matterhorn)_. But it’s not uncomfortable in the usual ways—the seats are fine, the seatbelts don’t cut too tight, there are no turns sharp enough to throw them around. No, it’s uncomfortable distinctly for the fact that Yuuri is acutely aware of the fact that he’s being _stared at_ the entire time.

(Well, _almost_ the entire time.)

As they exit Luigi’s Tire Shop, and the other car pulls up beside them for the race, Yuuri notices somebody else from the group of beautiful people in the car beside them. The guy next to him calls a few things in what is _certainly_ not English, and Yuuri finds himself listening to the nuances of the other language with interest. It explains the accent. Yuuri finds himself wondering if his stranger is from a different country, if he was raised here but in a household where English wasn’t the primary language.

The girl in the other car yells something in retort, her tone knowingly taunting even before she sticks out her tongue. It makes the guy laugh good-naturedly, and there’s an easy smile on his face when he turns back around to look at Yuuri.

This time, Yuuri is looking right back.

“Russian,” Yuuri says out of nowhere, and the guy blinks at him with wide eyes. His lips part, but before he can manage say anything in return, they’re off, and Yuuri watches as his hands fly up to grip the headband of his ears, trying to keep them from flying off as the speed of the ride dials up and the air whistles past them. The discomfort he’d been feeling through the dark, scenic opening to the ride washes away as Yuuri gets caught up in the thrilling conclusion of it, yelling at Yuuko to _go faster, go faster, don’t let them beat us!_ even though she’s not really driving. Eve though it’s a ride, and the winner has already been chosen.

But, as luck would have it, the winner happens to be them.

“Good driving,” his stranger compliments, holding up his hand, and Yuuko laughs as she gives him a high-five. For a second, just a second, as he’s laughing with the rest of them, it’s almost like he isn’t a stranger at all.

But then that second, and the ride, ends.

He hangs back as they exit the ride, waiting for his friends, and Yuuri finds himself casting one last glance over his shoulder. For his trouble, he gets a smile that almost has him tripping up the exit stairs.

“I’m glad I didn’t post the Splash Mountain picture. At this rate, I’ll have a collection,” Phichit comments as they finish climbing the stairs and the picture docks come into view. They don’t usually stop to look—Phichit will snap a picture of the code so he can look for it later, and they go on their merry way. After all, the screens for viewing are hardly the highest quality (or so Phichit usually says).

But this time, they all stop. It’s not until they do that Yuuri realizes that he never did hear what they all decided to do for the theme.

Looking at the picture, he’s still not sure, but maybe that’s because he’s looking more at himself than the rest of his friends. His hands aren’t in the air. He isn’t screaming. His face is completely in profile as him and his Disney mystery man stare at each other, grinning like children.

“You know, I might be sweating profusely despite the fact that it’s nearly November and this weather is bullshit,” Yuuko comments, turning to look at Yuuri. “But this might be the _best_ Disneyland trip ever.”

Yuuri covers his face with his hands.

“Did you get his name, loverboy?” Leo teases as they head towards the exit, and with a soft cry of complete mortification, Yuuri remembers saying _Russian_.

The first thing he ever said to a real life Disney prince was the word _Russian_. God have mercy.

*

(God does not have mercy.)

*

Maybe it’s everything. Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s some hand of fate, or maybe it’s coincidence, or maybe it’s a hundred other things that keep throwing Yuuri and his mystery man into the same path. The point is that it _keeps happening_.

Even when it shouldn’t. Even when it seems impossible. Even when Yuuri _sees_ him and his friends ambling into the single-rider line for California Screamin’ and quickly shepherds his own group into the reasonable line for Toy Story Mania (just 40 minutes).

But the other group has FastPasses. _Of course_ they have FastPasses. _Of course_ they end up at approximately the same place by the end of things. It’s so impossible Yuuri almost starts laughing hysterically.

Something in the universe is working against him.

( _Or for you_ , some traitorous, hopeful part of his mind reminds him.)

They’re already pairing off for the ride. Unlike Haunted Mansion, they can’t cram three of them into a single car here, and Yuuri already knows that he’s drawn the short straw for this ride.

“Listen, Yuuri,” Phichit says as he links arms with Yuuko. Betrayed by his two best friends. Yuuri should have seen it coming. “I love you, but you take this ride too seriously, Yuuri.”

Yuuri frowns.

“What Phichit is trying to say, Yuuri,” Yuuko hedges. “Is that you’re very competitive. Which isn’t a bad thing,” she hastily adds. “It’s just that not all of us… want to go through all the trouble of unlocking all of the bonus events in a virtual reality carnival game as you do, Yuuri.”

Is it him, are are his friends using his name more than they should be?

“There’s bonus stuff?” Guang-Hong asks Leo in a whisper.

“You’ll still probably beat all of us either way, Yuuri,” Phichit says cheerfully—and _loudly_. Does he think that Yuuri can’t hear him over the ride music or something?

Yuuri sighs, resigned. It’s not exactly a _surprise_. They cite the same reasons as to why none of them will play Mario Kart with him anymore.

“I’ll play with you, Yuuri,” a silky voice says into his ear, and Yuuri jerks backwards in surprise. His lower back hits the metal gate, but his back—his _head_ —collide with the telltale soft-but-firmness of another living, breathing person.

Of course. _Of course_. He closes his eyes and tries to breathe, going completely still in hopes that whatever just happened _didn’t_ happen and that maybe time will either loop back on itself or he’ll sink into the ground and disappear.

When he cracks open his eyes, his friends are all staring at him—Guang-Hong is wide eyed and startled, and Phichit looks like maybe he’s about to start laughing—and Yuuri knows that what has just been done can’t be undone. Knows in the heat pressing into his back.

He whips around quickly, and a chin smacks into his forehead. He stumbles backwards and away, a palm coming up to press against the sudden burst of pain.

“I-I’m sorry,” he blurts out as quickly as possible just as his Disney Prince says, “Are you alright?”

They both laugh into silence, Yuuri cradling his head and his Disney Prince rubbing at his chin. But—he’s smiling. At least he’s smiling. Maybe it’s the sudden blunt force to his skull, but the way he said Yuuri’s name is looping through Yuuri’s head, repeating again and again and again, like maybe he can memorize the way it sounded and remember it until the day he dies.

“I surprised you,” he deduces, but he looks somewhat pleased by his deduction, if slightly sheepish. His eyes flick to Yuuri’s forehead, but Yuuri can’t stop staring at the slightly reddened skin of his jaw where Yuuri literally just headbutted him. “ _And_ I was eavesdropping.” He presses a long-fingered, pale, perfectly manicured hand to his chest, his hair dipping over his eye as he leans forward and says, one-hundred percent earnestly, “I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

“N-no, no. It’s fine. Really,” Yuuri manages, although his voice is getting smaller and smaller. He can’t remember breathing in the last thirty seconds.

“We were talking loud,” Phichit adds, and Yuuri doesn’t have to be looking at his face to know that he’s grinning. It’s not possible, but Yuuri still has the feeling that, somehow, Phichit is behind all of this. “Hey, you know what I _just_ realized.” It doesn’t sound like he just realized _anything_. “Your group is uneven, too!”

And, dammit, it _is_. Just like their own group, his Disney Prince is there with four of his friends. They’re both sets of five.

How utterly, stupidly, ridiculously _convenient_.

“Maybe Victor should ride with your friend,” one of the girls in his group suggests, a twinkle in her eyes. “What do you say, Victor?” She has that same lilt to her voice that he does, and the word comes to Yuuri again suddenly. _Russian_ , he thinks, but then it’s pushed out by much more vital information.

 _Victor_.

His Splash Mountain Disney Prince is no longer a nameless enigma.

_Victor. Victor. Victor._

_Victor_ , who is _still_ staring at him, and under the suave curve to his smile, Yuuri swears he almost sees something a little… Shy.

As soon as the thought occurs to him, he almost snorts. Wishful thinking, most likely. Or projecting. Just because he’s a horrendous mess of social awkwardness and anxiety doesn’t mean he has to see those things in other perfectly functioning people.

A disgruntled string of Russian sounds from the back of their group, and then there’s suddenly _a lot_ of Russian bouncing back and forth. The line is moving forward. The time is running out. Yuuri watches the exchange with wide, bewildered eyes, and Victor—

Victor continues to watch him.

“That sounds like a great idea, right, Yuuri?” Phichit breaks in over the cacophony, and Yuuri says nothing.

“Victor is also very competitive,” the girl supplies helpfully, and it’s almost as if the choice is made for them.

(No, not almost. It _is_.)

Yuuri ends up on the blue gun, and Victor on the red. It’s different than sitting next to each other on Racers, where they’re in their own individual seats. This time, they share the same bench, and Victor is close enough that Yuuri can feel the heat from his leg.

 _Focus. Focus_. He’s never _not_ gotten the high score in the car from this ride, and he isn’t about to start now, just because he’s a little… _Distracted_ . He breathes, and goes to pull down his lap bar—and, therefore, his gun—when there’s a gentle touch to his elbow. When he turns, Victor is wearing the stupid yellow, angular 3D glasses. He looks more ridiculous than he does devastating, and Yuuri almost laughs. _Almost_.

It’s almost like Victor can tell, because he smiles. He holds out his hand across the small space between them just as the Cast Member comes by and shuts the loading doors.

“I’m Victor, by the way.”

It’s… Silly. It’s silly. It’s silly, and ridiculous, and unnecessary, but Yuuri finds himself smiling and sliding his hand into Victor’s anyway. Like this is a perfectly reasonable and normal way to meet someone. Like their friends hadn’t been loudly announcing their names like they were secretly hinting at something, when it shouldn’t have been— _couldn’t_ have been—more obvious what they were trying to do.

But maybe the normalcy was something he needed. The day has been on the weirder side of strange, and something as simple as this is almost a welcome respite.

“Yuuri.” The car is jerking into motion, and _dammit_ , he’s already too distracted. He hasn’t even put on his 3D glasses yet. At least it’s a good excuse to pull away from Victor’s touch before he lingers long enough for it to be creepy. “Don’t laugh,” he mumbles, suddenly self conscious as he turns away and slots the 3D glasses over his normal ones.

“That…” Victor hesitates, but when Yuuri casts a glance in his direction, his smile isn’t even a little mocking. In fact, it’s nearly sympathetic. “That doesn’t look comfortable.”

“It isn’t,” Yuuri responds mournfully. “But until Disneyland develops 3D glasses for those of us with near-sightedness, it’s the best I can do.” It’ll also probably leave him with a headache, but going without either pair is even _worse_. At least this way, he can actually see what’s going on around him.

The car begins to jerk and spin, pulling them from the loading area and into the dark, music-filled heart of the ride. Yuuri can feel his anxiety easing, replaced with the competitive spirit his friends simultaneously respect and fear.

They pull to a stop in front of the practice screens, and when Yuuri glances to their left, he can see Phichit and Yuuko firing enthusiastically at the targets despite the fact that they’re worth _no points_  And then there’s Victor beside him, who is firing blobs of blue at Woody’s target with deadly precision.

Being competitive is one thing. Being _good_ is another thing entirely. And it’s immediately clear that Victor knows what he’s doing.

“It’s more fun if you try to hit _them_ instead of the target,” Yuuri says as he leans in, and it’s weird, being close enough to see the surprise register over Victor’s body. It’s weird being this close to him _at all_. Victor does as Yuuri tells him, and his face lights up with delight as Woody begins trying to block the onslaught with the proper target.

“Your friend said you were competitive,” Yuuri continues. The practice session is about to end, and they only have a few seconds of Toy Story characters relaying overhead instructions before the first game. Yuuri hasn’t pulled the string on his shooter once.

Victor turns to look at him. Yuuri can’t see his eyes behind the glances, but he looks intrigued.

“Do you want to kick all of your friend’s asses at this game?,” Yuuri asks with deadly seriousness, and Victor’s lips break into a delighted, childish grin.

“Absolutely.”

“Then do everything I say.”

Remarkably, Victor does.

They work so well as a team, it’s easy for Yuuri to forget that they’re strangers. They take down the hen house together in the egg throwing game (although Victor doesn’t go for the cat, and Yuuri edges ahead of him in points). They nail the lava and meteors in the balloon dart-throw, but Yuuri is the one who snags the coveted red balloon at the end. It’s almost unnerving when they manage to hit the flying targets in the plate smashing game, and downright alarming when they manage to clear all the aliens in the rocket during the ring-toss.

Woody’s Shooting Gallery is where Yuuri is essentially giving instructions off the cuff, shooting them off as they go and change, but Victor responds with ease. Up until the very last target, where they climb and they climb and they climb and, “Keep your arm loose, don’t tense up!” until they reach that 5000 point marker.

It feels like running a marathon by the end of it.

Victor slumps back in his seat, but he’s grinning.

“I didn’t even know that game could be that way,” he admits, but he doesn’t look the slightest bit put out by that fact. “Where did you learn all of that?” Victor is looking at him… Strangely. It’s not a look that Yuuri feels comfortable meeting head-on, much less trying to dissect what it is and what it means.

“Uh, online. You’d be surprised how many people put together guides to maximize your points on these things. No one will go on Astro Blasters with me anymore, either, because I always manage to snag Zurg at the end and—” _oh god_ , what is he even _saying?_ Is he really telling Victor about how he researches Disneyland rides? Could he be more of a dork?

The apology is already forming on his lips, when Victor laughs.

It cuts at first, until Victor follows it up with, “That’s me with Mario Kart.”

The shocked _huh_ falls from Yuuri’s mouth unbidden.

Victor still hasn’t taken off his glasses.

“I research the stats of all the characters and vehicles so I can have the best possible combination for my play style, but apparently I’m _taking it too seriously_ ,” Victor intones with finger quotations, and then rolls his eyes.

“Me too,” Yuuri admits. His heart practically hurts where it’s beating in his chest. Victor looks at him again, and Yuuri can see the perfect curve of an arched, grey eyebrow. “I research that stuff for Mario Kart, too.”

Yuuri suddenly and fiercely _wants_. If Victor is this much of a dork about Mario Kart, what else is he a dork about? More than that, if they played against each other in Mario Kart, _who would win?_

There’s no way of telling if he’ll ever know, but at least where Midway Mania is concerned, he’s a little more sure of his success.

Yuuri beats Victor by around 95,000 points, clocking in at nearly 600,000, earning them both the coveted bear prize. Not that it’s Yuuri’s first time getting it, although it must be Victor’s, what with the grin he’s wearing and the way he’s pulling out his phone to take a picture. Yuuri has half the mind to do the same, because this is definitely the best score he’s ever gotten.

There’s something to be said for having a good partner.

But it’s not the bear that gets to him. It’s the next screen. The screen that matters.

It would be more surprising if Yuuri didn’t get the highest score in the car. That he nearly expects at this point. He’s only lost that honor _once_ , and he’d been so ashamed of himself he didn’t come near this ride for nearly a month until his shattered confidence was slightly restored.

Highest score of the hour? That’s… A bit more rare. It’s happened, sure. A few times. On several rare occasions, he’s even achieved highest score of the day a few incredibly memorable times, but—  

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my _god_.”

He’s _never_ gotten highest score of the month. Not _ever_.

It doesn’t even occur to him that he’s _hugging Victor_ until they’re pulling back into the daylight, the game and their ride over.

In fact, the only reason he notices at all is because Victor is hugging him _back_.

“Um.” Yuuri jerks away, pulling his 3D glasses off so hastily that he ends up skewing his own frames in the process. “Sorry, I just—I’ve never done that well before.” Never. He’s never even gotten _close_. Those scores used to taunt him, making his 300,000-400,000 scores look like child’s play. It had seemed so impossible, but the fact that he broke that 500,000 point barrier (that he almost got past six, he _almost_ got there)... He’s a little floored.

It hurts to know that, with some practice, he could get there. That Victor could get there. That they could compete for that highest spot. That Yuuri could have someone to compete with, to compete  _against_. How can he ever play this game again _now_ , knowing what it can be? Knowing how far he could go under the best circumstances? Knowing he’ll probably never reach that level again? Highest score of the month, he—

He didn’t take a picture.

He was so excited he _forgot_ to take a picture.

“You don’t have to apologize,” Victor assures him, a hint of color to his cheeks. “That was amazing.”

Yuuri feels like he’s going to _cry_. Which is highly possible, he’s certainly cried at Disneyland for less heart-wrenching reasons.

“I—” Yuuri wilts against the back of the car, refraining from smacking the back of his head against it. “I didn’t take a picture,” he admits quietly, sorrowfully. This will probably never happen to him again, and he doesn’t even have solid evidence. Just the memory. What had his exact score been? He feels like the numbers are already slipping away.

“Well then…"

When Yuuri’s eyes slide to Victor, he has his phone out.

“It’s a good thing I took plenty.” He holds up the screen, and… There it is. The prize scoreboard. The final screen. Even their scores where they’d been displayed in the car itself. He has pictures of all of it. “You were pretty spectacular, after all.”

He even has a picture of Yuuri’s face when he’d _seen_ , which is— _awful_. It’s awful. Even if it does make something in Yuuri’s heart feel squiggly and warm.

The car jerks to a halt. The lap bars come up and the doors open and their friends start pouring out of the cars around them. The ride is over, but the moment isn’t, and Victor and Yuuri downright stare at each other for a few moments too long, until a Cast Member has to gently remind them to exit the vehicle.

(It’s embarrassing. It’s _so_ embarrassing. Yuuri is still riding the high of his score, is already too flustered by what Victor did, what he _said_ , that he can’t even think to be further embarrassed.

But later, he’ll remember. There’s plenty of time to be embarrassed about this _later._ )

“Who did it?” Demands one of Victor’s friends as they exit up the stairs. He’s clearly the youngest in the group, hardly a teenager, his hair a beautiful, pale blond and his accent noticeably more pronounced than Victor’s. “Victor?” He turns on him with narrowed eyes, almost seeming angry.

“Actually.” Victor’s face blooms into a grin. Hadn’t his friend said he was competitive? Shouldn’t he be angry that Yuuri beat him? He looks downright _pleased_ by the turn of events. “It was Yuuri.”

“Best of the month?” Phichit asks, eyes bulging from his head. “That’s amazing!” His eyes jerk to Victor. “ _Please_ tell me you got pictures!”

Victor holds up his phone, giving it a little wiggle, and Phichit crowds close with wide, excited eyes.

“Yes! You even got the reaction shot!” Phichit crows, patting Victor on the arm in congratulations.

“Looks like Victor’s good luck,” Yuuko comments as she sidles up beside him, linking their arms together and winking. Yuuri blushes, and tries to find the words to correct her. It’s not so much that he’s good luck, but that him and Yuuri just… They work. It doesn’t make sense (what about this day _does_?), but they do. Is that chemistry? Yuuri’s never heard anyone describe chemistry in terms of video game compatibility, but, you know, maybe they _should_.

Yuuri glances at Victor, where he’s now talking animatedly with Phichit. They both have their phones out (oh _no_ , what is Phichit _showing_ him?), when Victor’s eyes flick up and catch his stare. There’s something almost tender in that look, and Yuuri finds himself reeling, desperately trying to connect the dots that got them from Splash Mountain to _here_.

“You know what sounds really good right now?” Leo says as they exit the ride, completely oblivious to Yuuri’s inner turmoil. “A corn dog.”

*

They get corn dogs.

 _Well_ , they all head in the general direction of the Corn Dog Castle, and _most_ of them get corn dogs. Yuuri’s not sure when _them_ changed from him and his friends to him, his friends, and Victor’s group as well, but it did. Somewhere along the way. Yuuri’s still trying to figure it out.

Since he’s a firm believer that the corn dogs in Disneyland are just better (they _are_ ), he leaves his friends in line to wander over to the outdoor shop nearby instead, looking for a few moments to just… _Think_. It’s been a long, hot day, and there’s the beginnings of a headache in his left temple. He loves his friends, but things have gone from crazy to downright _hectic_ in the last half hour and he just. He just needs a moment.

It’s not that the music or the sounds of the crowd is any dimmer over here, but Yuuri still feels like he can breathe a little easier. He’s surrounded by ears upon ears upon ears, and it looks like nearly every pair available in the parks can be found right here.

(Except, of course, the rose gold ones.)

Yuuri’s eyes linger on the bow for the thousandth time, but he moves on. Today might be a strange day, but it’s not _that_ strange.

“Not hungry?”

Yuuri is not a clumsy person by nature, but he still nearly knocks over an entire display of bubble wands when Victor sneaks up on him.

“Whoops.” Victor doesn’t sound, or look, the least bit sorry about startling him.

At least Yuuri didn’t cause him any bodily harm this time around.

Instead of _no_ , which is the normal, default answer, he says, “The corn dogs in Disneyland are better,” which... Is the truth, but it’s not really the sort of thing he just goes around _saying_. The fact that he has that kind of solid opinion on corn dogs probably says more about his eating habits than he wants to say to someone like _Victor_ , who probably indulges on a diet of kale and egg whites.

So, keeping in trend with the rest of this incredibly strange day, Victor doesn’t make any sense and says, “Yes, exactly! No one ever believes me when I say that.”

“It’s true, though.”

“It is.”

Yuuri has to duck away before they spend the next three years just _staring_ at one another, because he simply doesn’t understand Victor and staring at him feels like the only way to make any sense of him. How does someone like _Yuuri_ have so much in common with someone like _Victor?_

If Yuuri didn’t feel so dehydrated, he’d think this was all some weirdly elaborate and vivid dream.

(At least Victor doesn’t seem all that creeped out by the staring, though.)

“You would look cute in them,” Victor says apropos of nothing, and Yuuri feels color bleed across his cheeks.

“Um,” he responds, elegantly. Did Victor really just…?

And Victor grins, as if to say _yes I really just_ , before plucking the large, glittery pink bow from the selection of ears.

Oh, those are—how did he know that?

“You keep looking at them.”

 _Can he read Yuuri’s mind now?_ Not good, this is very _not good_.

“You should try them on.”

Okay, maybe no mind reading, then. There’s _one thing_ he can feel relieved about.

Yuuri eyes the bow hesitantly, fingers curling into themselves at his side. He _has_ tried them on, probably hundreds of times, but the idea of doing it in front of Victor…

“No?” Victor says in response to Yuuri’s silence, almost as if he can understand it. “I will, then.” He slips the rose gold ears from atop his head, and then places the bow there instead. It isn’t even a little surprising when they look just as good on him, too.

“You don’t need those,” Yuuri tries to reason, eyes flicking to the band Victor is holding in loose fingers, like any second someone might run up and snatch them away. It’s possible—some crazy shit happens at Disneyland sometimes. “You have the most coveted ears in the park already.”

Victor holds up his previous set of ears, and then smiles. He takes one step closer, and then slips the band over Yuuri’s head.

“They look better on you.”

Yuuri _severely_ doubts that, especially since he is no doubt turning his own special shade of pink that no doubt will clash horribly with this particular shade of rose gold. In fact, he doesn’t even turn to look at himself in the angled mirrors lining the top of the stall. He doesn’t want to see, _he doesn’t want to see_.

He pulls them off almost as soon as Victor lets go.

“They’re yours,” he insists, holding them out in the small space between them. It doesn’t _matter_ that Victor is the stranger that has been flittering in and out of Yuuri’s life for the majority of the day. It doesn’t _matter_ that Victor and him worked seamlessly as partners during Midway Mania. At the end of the day, they’re still strangers, even if they do know each other’s names.

And strangers don’t give strangers _$80 ears_.

“But I’m wearing these.” Victor gestures to the bow, as if it isn’t a huge, obvious, glittery pink mass protruding into the air. The look on his face is forcefully innocent.

“Then let’s trade and I’ll wear those.” Yuuri pushes Victor’s owned ears back into his hands, even as Victor seems to consider this agreement. He just needs to give Victor his own ears back before he does something stupid, and then he’ll just put the bow back. Just like he always puts the bow back, every single time.

It’s only a few seconds but it _feels_ like so much longer until Victor nods and makes the switch— _literally_. He plucks the bow from his own head and then promptly settles it on Yuuri’s instead.

“I was right.” He beams. “You _do_ look cute in them.” Victor’s fingers linger, the tips of them skimming the plush edge of the bow down to the band. The intimacy of the touch startles Yuuri into stillness, so much so that he doesn’t realize what Victor’s doing until he hears the telltale sound of _something_ snapping.

That _something_ ends up being the the price tag, pinched delicately between Victor’s thumb and index finger.

“What are you—?”

Victor is already striding away from him alarmingly quickly, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket as he heads to the—Yuuri’s stomach drops—to the _register_.

“Wait!” Giving Yuuri ears he already owns is one thing. But _buying_ him a pair? That’s…

Well, it’s ridiculous. Just like this whole entire day has been.

Yuuri’s still not sure he believes it’s all actually happening.

“What are you doing? Don’t buy them for me!”

“But you said you'd wear them!" Victor teases, tossing a grin over his shoulder. "And besides, it’s a thank you. For showing me all the tricks on the Toy Story ride.” Victor winks at him. “Unless you were planning to buy them for yourself?”

It's like he _knows_ that Yuuri has no intention of buying them. That's Yuuri only ever  _thought_ about buying them. In fact, he’s been thinking about it _for months_. He’s even come close a few times, but… In the end, he’s just never been able to convince himself it was a good idea.

Again, Victor seems to read his silence, and before Yuuri can say things like _you don’t have to buy me anything to thank me_ or _you hardly know me, are you crazy?_ It’s done.

Apparently strangers don’t give strangers $80 ears, but they do buy them $20 bow headbands.

Yuuri has felt like he was going to die more times than normal today.

Victor carefully pockets the receipt, like he knows Yuuri will make a grab at it and try to return them ( _dammit_ ), and then he’s reaching over again, adjusting how the bow sits _just so_. Yuuri stares at the ground, somewhere between infuriated and flustered and not quite sure which one is winning out.

“People…” He reaches up and touches the side of the band self consciously. “People are going to _look_ at me.” It’s one of the reasons he’s put this off, no matter how badly he’s wanted them. It’s hard enough, preferring the Minnie headbands to the wide range of capped hats with Mickey ears that make him look like he’s five. The Minnie headbands are cuter. They’re more comfortable. He wears them and knows that people turn and look because they’re _for girls_ , of which he is not.

This bow? It’s possibly the most feminine thing he could get.

And he loves it. There’s a reason he’s been staring at it for so long.

Victor hums thoughtfully.

“Well, in my professional opinion, people _should_ be looking at you.”

It almost makes Yuuri forget the whole Victor-buying-him-something debacle.

 _Almost_.

When they make it back to where their friends are nearly finished with their corn dogs, Yuuko is the first to notice his newest accessory.

“You finally bought them!” She calls happily. Phichit is already pulling out his phone, and Yuuri isn’t sure how many candids he manages to get before he’s close enough to cover the lens with his hand.

“Aw, but you look so cute!” Phichit protests.

“Doesn’t he?” Victor agrees, and Yuuri wishes he could disappear.

“So where to next?” Asks Victor’s friend—the tall one, _Chris_. His eyes slide conspiratorially to Phichit. “The Little Mermaid?” He doesn’t wink, but the subtle suggestivity of the remark is clear enough in his tone.

But instead of springing into action to ruin Yuuri’s life further, Phichit falters. “Actually…” His eyes pass over them, but they linger on Yuuri the longest. “We have FastPasses for Guardians that go up in, like, twenty minutes.” His reticence shifts into apologetic. “If we don’t hustle over there, like, _now_ , we’ll miss it.”

“We have some for Soarin’,” one of Victor’s female friends—Mila, the redhead, the one who pushed this all into motion with a single suggestion. “They’ll be up soon, too.”

They all go quiet, as if they’re just now remembering that they came to Disneyland as two groups, not one. The moment hangs and hangs, like maybe there’s a solution to all of this, like there’s a way to work it out. It makes Yuuri miss the days of paper FastPasses, where it was simple to just trade his pass with someone else’s. _Do you want to go on Guardians, Yuri?_ he could ask the angry blond teenager, and he could go on Soarin’, and there would be a _reason_ for them all to get together again afterwards.

But it’s like a timer has gone off somewhere, and this weird stretch of time they all spent together has run out. It’s a truth most of them seem to accept as the group starts to splinter apart with friendly calls of, “It was nice to meet you!” and, “It was fun hanging out with you guys!”

It shouldn’t feel weird. _It shouldn’t feel weird_. The fact that they were all hanging out together is the thing that was _weird_ , not them all splitting up and going their separate ways. And yet... It doesn’t feel _right_ , either, as they start to go in their different directions.

Victor is looking at him.

Yuuri is looking right back.

“I owe you a churro for these,” he says before they’ve taken too many steps apart—each one is slow, reluctant, _hard_ —and gestures towards the bow. “Like, _four_ churros.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Victor responds, and it sounds like a promise.

Chris calls Victor’s name, and Yuuko calls Yuuri’s, and then they’re turned a corner and… They’re gone. _He’s_ gone.

They’re making their way through Bug’s Land when Yuuko puts a hand on his shoulder. It’s getting darker, the day finally starting to cool off.

“You could have gone with them, you know. We wouldn’t have minded.”

Yuuri blinks at her in surprise, shaking his head. Like the thought hadn’t crossed his mind. Like he wasn’t such a horrible friend that he actually considered ditching his friends for some guy he _just met_.

“I came to Disneyland with you guys,” he responds insistently. “You’re my friends. I want to spend time with _you_.”

But he reaches up and touches the edge of the headband, feeling wistful.

*

(Victor isn’t in their Mission Breakout picture. It almost feels wrong.)

*

Their last FastPasses of the night are for Space Mountain, and they almost don’t go. They have passes for World of Color, it doesn’t make sense to walk _all_ the way back to Disneyland and then _all_ the way back to the waterfront in California Adventure. They’re already done that walk once today, and their feet are starting to feel it.

But... Guang-Hong hasn’t been on the Ghost Galaxy variation yet, and there’s no way they’re making it back to the parks before Halloweentime ends. At least, that’s the argument Yuuri makes, and it’s enough to convince his friends to make the trek despite how exhausted they all are.

Yuuri doesn’t add on that he keeps scanning the crowds for a shock of silver hair and coming up empty. That maybe Victor and his friends went back to Disneyland, too, and maybe, maybe, _maybe_ whatever magic is taking place today will happen again.

“Is it really that different?” He asks as their FastPasses are scanned at the entrance to Space Mountain.

“Think Hyperspace, but creepier,” Phichit tells him.

“And darker,” Yuuko adds.

“With ghosts,” Leo says with a creepy voice, and Guang-Hong laughs.

Yuuri’s too preoccupied looking over the crowd flowing through Tomorrowland and bunched together in Space’s standby line to comment. It’s getting darker and darker, and soon finding anyone in this place is going to be next to impossible.

“You should have gotten his number,” Phichit says seemingly out of nowhere, and Yuuri realizes that all of his friends are looking at him. They noticed. _Of course_ they noticed.

Yuuri blanches, turning away nervously, casting his eyes to the ground.

“I—” the idea of trying to get Victor’s _number_ is probably the _most absurd_ thing to happen that day. And _a lot_ of absurd things have happened.

 _Get Victor’s number_. Yuuri’s never gotten someone’s number.

Well, not on _purpose_. And it’s not like Victor offered it or anything.

“Don’t worry. He obviously has a pass, and we saw him so many times just today. You’ll see him again.”

It doesn’t seem likely. After all, days like this don’t just _happen_. Yes, Victor clearly has an annual pass, but that doesn’t mean him and Yuuri have ever bumped into one another _before_. Whatever was playing a part in today—that’s not going to happen a second time. It shouldn’t have happened a first.

Then it hits Yuuri what his friends are doing.

“Guys, I’m _fine_ ,” he insists. “I was just seeing how much of a line there was.” Liar. He’s such a liar. “I don’t want us to get a bad spot for World of Color.” He’s seen it dozens of times, and while he loves it, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if they didn’t get optimal viewing.

And his friends seem to know all of this—not a single one of them looks convinced. Not even Guang-Hong.

“Look.” Yuuri closes his eyes, and reaches up to touch the bow again. “I really am fine. Today was… Weird.” His smile is more disbelief than joy. “It was… Really, _really_ weird. But. It was also fun. And _nice_ , and maybe—” his throat feels tight, suddenly, “—maybe I’ll never see Victor again.” It’s startling how heartbreaking that thought is. God, now _he’s_ ridiculous. He hardly knows Victor from any other stranger in the park. Sure, he’s attractive, and nice, and charming, like any and every Disney Prince in the vault, and who wouldn’t want that? But Yuuri’s mind continues past that, to Victor’s dorkiness, to his similar opinions not just on Mario Kart but on food, too, to the kind understanding in his eyes, and... And…

And Yuuri _wants_ to know him.

But sometimes life doesn’t work out that way.

“And, you know, that’s…” He can’t make himself say fine. It’s not fine. It _sucks_.

It fucking sucks, but, at the end of the day… It is what it is. That’s just how things tend to go, especially for someone like him. This is real life, after all. They might be at Disneyland, but that doesn’t mean they all get to suddenly live a Disney movie. People don’t fall in love in a day, the loser doesn’t become the princess, and happily ever afters aren’t real, and it’s not like they’ll just get to the end of the FastPass line and Victor and his friends will just _be_ there—

“Hey there strangers!”

—or maybe there is something to this Disney magic and Yuuri is one hundred percent, certifiably wrong.

He can’t find it in himself to care.

“Looks like we all had the same idea again,” says Mila’s girlfriend, Sara, from the standby line. They’re both _right there_ , right at the front of their prospective lines, waiting for the go ahead from the Cast Member, and Yuuri literally can’t believe this is happening _again_. He almost starts hysterically laughing in his disbelief, and wonders if he looks as horribly gobsmacked as he feels.

The Cast Member looks back and forth between their two groups, and then turns to Victor’s.

“How many?” He asks.

“Five,” Chris says, even as he looks over at them with raised eyebrows. The Cast Member looks back at their group, and then let’s Victor’s down the tunnel.

Seriously?! Does he not understand what is happening here? He is getting in the way of something extraordinary, and!

And maybe Yuuri got excited too soon. Maybe it’s a trick. They’ll still get separated, he still won’t really get to see Victor again, and this... This is the punishment he’s been waiting for all day.

(It hurts.)

Yuuri feels like Victor’s eyes have hooked into him and are pulling him along, but he’s not allowed to follow.

(It _hurts_.)

And then, just like that, everything seems to flip on its head once again. Because the Cast Member holds up his hand, preventing the rest of the standby line from flooding in after them. He turns to them, and something a little like shock and a lot like relief floods through Yuuri.

“And how many here?” He asks Phichit, and Phichit looks like he could kiss the man.

“Five,” he declares, emphatically, excitedly, and then the Cast Member is waving them through.

“No running!” He calls after them, but they’re all sprinting down the tunnel anyway. Victor’s group wasn’t right there past the entrance, but they’re just ahead, they have to be just ahead, they _have_ to be.

“I can’t believe—” Mila is shouting as they catch up, and Chris is laughing.

“We were plotting to just let other groups pass us,” he tells them as they collide like waves against rocks. Yuuko and Sara are gripping each other’s arms like they’re lifelong friends, and even grumpy little Yuri doesn’t seem all that upset by their sudden presence.

Victor reaches up and adjusts Yuuri’s bow, his smile soft.

“Just as cute as I left you.”

Yuuri’s glad the lights in Space are so dim, that Victor can’t see how such a simple sentence affects him so, so much.

“So we’re all riding together then?” Chris asks, as they follow the line along the balcony. They’re starting to slant down, and they’ll be at the split soon.

“I mean, I think the God’s have spoken,” Leo answers with a laugh. “What does that make us now? _Ten_?”

“We’ll take up nearly an entire train.”

“Victor has to be in our car!” Phichit claims. “Our ride picture saga has to be complete!”

“Oh, but who in the world will Victor sit with?” Chris asks, faking innocence, like the answer is obvious.

And, well. Maybe it is.

Yuuri glances shyly at Victor, distractedly wringing his fingers. They’ve sat together twice already, but those had been more circumstance than purpose. But this? This is premeditated. This is not something thrown together. It’s orchestrated.

And Yuuri has to— _wants to_ —be the one to orchestrate.

“Do you, um…” It’s still much harder than it should be. He swallows, he breathes, the pulse of his heartbeat in his ears drowning out the sound of the line around them and the operating ride several yards below them. “Do you want to sit with me?” Yuuri asks, his voice probably far too quiet with all the noise around them. But somehow—probably in line with all the other miracles that happened today—Victor hears him.

Or maybe he didn’t have to.

“Of course.”

They sit in the very back, Phichit and Yuuko ahead of them, Guang-Hong and Leo up front. The rest of their group, all of Victor’s friends, fill the car in front of them.

“I’ve never been on this version,” Victor admits as they sit, and he carefully stows his ears in the pouch in front of him. Yuuri follows suit with his bow.

“Neither has Guang-Hong. It’s fun,” Yuuri promises, and Victor smiles at him.

But he neglects to tell Victor how different it is. When they enter the usually brightly lit tunnel in the beginning, there is a harsh, unpleasant sound and then… Complete darkness. Yuuri isn’t expecting for Victor to fumble around between them, searching and searching until he manages to find and grab Yuuri’s hand.

Yuuri’s breath punches out of him, and he forgets to be excited or scared or whatever else this ride is supposed to be making him feel.

Victor must be able to sense his tension—to _feel_ it—because a moment later he leans in. It’s nearly impossible to hear him over the music.

“Sorry. That probably wasn’t very suave of me,” he admits. But he also doesn’t let go.

Yuuri closes his eyes, breathes, and orchestrates. He laces their fingers together and then turns to Victor, who’s face is pleasantly surprised in the darkness.

“No one said you had to be suave,” Yuuri counters, voice so loud that probably all of their friends have heard. Victor stares at him as they tip into an ascent, and then they’re both snapping forward as the ghost appears out of swirling galaxy at the end of the tunnel. It grabs at the cylinder they’re climbing through, sending shocks of lightning down the sides, and Guang-Hong squeaks up front.

They twist up and into the darkness, the music more eerie and haunting than it is awe-inducing. It just amps up, like the suspenseful music of a horror film, and there’s no launch sequence in this variation, nothing to make it feel like some kind of space mission. It relies more on the ghost, crawling along in the projections, getting ready for the chase.

But Yuuri still leans close to Victor, reciting, “Countdown in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”

Victor lifts their joined hands into the air as they plummet.

*

The picture is embarrassing, but that doesn’t mean that Yuuri can stop looking at it.

Although the fact that Victor is there, right beside him, close enough that their arms are pressed together down to where their hands are still magically interlocked, unable to stop looking at it _either_ feels like some sort of consolation.

Yuuri had lost count of the turns. He’s been on the ride so many times, he knows when the picture is coming. Is generally prepared for it. Has enough time to cover his face or duck his head and not have to deal with the horrible lighting and the way the force of the ride pulls his hair back in the most unattractive ways.

But it was hard to keep track, with Victor right there. With Victor clutching his hand, and alternating screams with bursts of joyful laughter. It was easy to pay more attention to Victor than to the ride itself. And there, near the end, when the turns came around on themselves again and again and again, Victor had leaned in, lips close enough that they nearly brushed against the shell of Yuuri’s ear. They’d still been holding hands, and Yuuri had subconsciously turned in, straining to hear Victor over all the music and sound effects.

“That part where it looks like the hand is about to grab us scared me so much I thought I was going to piss myself,” he’d said, and Yuuri had laughed, taken aback.

And that’s what he sees. He sees Victor pressed close enough that their foreheads are touching, their hair whipped up and awful from the speed of the ride. He sees his eyes shut tight in laughter, Victor’s nose pressed into his cheek, his own nose crinkled up as his face just starts to crack into laughter. Their clasped hands aren’t visible, but Yuuri knows they’re there.

(“The perfect ending to our saga,” Phichit says, snapping a picture of the code and promising to send the picture to Yuuri so he can send it to Victor.

It’s a downright sly way to get them to exchange numbers, but it works. Yuuri could simultaneously kiss and kill his best friend.)

“The end of a saga, huh?” Victor asks as they trail their now incredibly large Disneyland group. Yuuri glances at him. “Is that what this is? An end?”

Yuuri smiles softly, glancing away and biting his lip.

“I wouldn’t say that,” he hedges. “After all, I owe you a churro.”

“ _Four_ churros,” Victor corrects softly. Yuuri looks at him, and his smile grows.

“Four churros, then.”

**Author's Note:**

> ho boy. don't ever let me tell you that I can't write 10k in a day, because apparently, I _can_.
> 
> remember those miniscule details I mentioned beforehand? well, here's some elboration (for fun!):
> 
> \+ [the sour watermelon churro](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DE-SffWXYAAfNmh.jpg) (yes, it's a thing)  
> \+ [the spider silk macaron](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58d9e6655016e1b24936a200/t/59c82b16a803bbff9d2cf1ae/1506290468056/IMG_9218.JPG) (so weird but strangely amazing???)  
> \+ damn i want Yuuri's [mission breakout shirt](https://www.wdwinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/merch07.jpg) (the one on the left)  
> \+ you didn't miss dapper day, Yuuri - [the next one is November 5th](http://dapperday.com/fall-2017-disneyland-ca)  
> \+ [them rose gold ears](http://mystyledlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Where-to-Buy-Rose-Gold-Minnie-Mouse-Ears-at-Disneyland-Tips.jpg), which are in such high demand that yes, you can in fact [buy them on ebay for around $60-$80](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.Xdisneyland+rose+gold+minnie+ears.TRS0&_nkw=disneyland+rose+gold+minnie+ears&_sacat=0)  
> \+ [Yuuri's huge, pink bow](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e7/95/13/e795133d2f560bf838a9fb88bc093800.jpg)  
> \+ Space Mountain does a Halloween overlay called [Ghost Galaxy](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/d/db/Dht09_space1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110803103835) that is ~spooky
> 
> and, for total immersion (especially for midway mania, sorry about that lol) - ride the rides!  
> \+ [splash mountain](https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=453s&v=LFwgEYAUYyc)  
> \+ [radiator springs racers](https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=280s&v=DvWZikndJtA)  
> \+ [toy story midway mania](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oKNoMNUAtS4)  
> \+ [space mountain: ghost galaxy](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yBAgVPwfevs)
> 
> this was. fun. hey, do you guys think I could just write Disneyland fics forever? can that be my thing now? xD
> 
> (also, this is the first thing I've posted/fully written on my tablet, so sorry for any errors I didn't catch D; )
> 
> title taken from the first Splash Mountain song (gotta get obscure with it, ya know)


End file.
